Whispering Twilight
by CataclysmicReality
Summary: AU. Angel Tomoyo seeks to prevent the next war between Heaven and Hell by recruiting help from False Angel Syaoran and Fallen Angel Sakura. But where does their allegiance lie? More summary/info inside.
1. Assignment

**Whispering Twilight**

**The Summary:**

Heaven and Hell near the beginnings of another war that looms on the horizon. Unable to afford the cost such a battle, Heaven seeks the aid of part of its rouge collection, a group of angels that sinned while in the preceding wars, but did not fall by decree of the council matriarch. Know for their deeds of cruelty and un-angelic feats, these "false" angels are employed to gather either known or unknown faction members of the Fallen, or assassinate them if they show allegiance to the forces of Hell.

**Character listing:**

To-myciel (Toe-mee-see-L): Tomoyo as the Matriarch of Heaven's highest council. Serves both as head of the military and liaison between the Earth and Heaven judicial affairs. She is known to be wise and troublesome at the same time. She respects all who once resided in Heaven and its military.

Syariel (Sigh-are-ee-L): Syaoran the "false" angel. One of those who had committed a crime of sin against Heaven, but not received a banishment sentence to the mortal world beyond. He is sent to Earth to gather the assistance of the fallen angel Sakyriel, Sakura's angelic self, or kill her if she refuses. He may have his own agenda should he liberate his Syncron, the root of an angelic being's soul, from To-myciel.

Sakyriel (Sa-key-ree-L): One of the fallen angels of the hierarchy of which only To-myciel remained standing. After the Core Wars in the Mortal plane with Hell (where forces of Hell tried to steal the Syncrons of Heaven's uncooperative fallen for sake of increasing their own power as well as destroying obstacles), Sakyriel decided to mask her presence by undergoing a mortal bonding ritual that allows her to lay hidden in plain sight, while her 'host' body is recycled through the ages and allows her to blend in without effort. The current host form "Sakura" has no awareness that she even plays host, though that is her main purpose. Aside from that, there is no difference between her and a normal human, though she has no idea of the existence of her other self.

Sakura: Host form of Sakyriel. She has no idea that she has such a vital purpose in the world and the ones beyond. She develops a crush on Syariel's human form Syaoran, after a few times of contact. She doesn't develop any sense of awareness until much later towards the onset of the Twilight War.

**Events:**

War of Dawn: Hell and Heaven's armies clash in a battle set to determine dominance on human souls. After losing four fifths of territory, the angelic hierarchy (without consent of fellow angel and true follower To-myciel) Sakyriel and other generals used Hell's own dark energies of sin against them, and stained their wings forever black. Though defeating the armies' front lines, and reclaiming their lost lands, for fear of sustained corruption and further betrayal... thus forced the great divide, and half of the Heavens fell.

Core Wars: The battles resumed out of Heaven and in the mortal killing grounds. The resulting conflicts eliminate human advancements and send entire regions into a "dark age" as a small ice age falls over the planet. For sake of the Syncrons, The ranks of the Fallen shattered and split asunder all over again, with some betraying others for favor of new allies, and others continuing it all in Heaven's name. Eventually ends in stalemate.

Day War (Sun and Shadows War): Following several attempts of Fallen to break back into Heaven, the lack of activity on earth has given Hell the upper hand in soul collection. Without Heaven's force as strong as it once was, and without new souls to enter the fold, Heaven's forces attempt to take the Mortal plane back by bringing the war to the hells. Angels not resistant to Hell's fury are tainted, but not in a similar way to the first war. To-myciel decides to collect the "false" angels and return to Heaven. The war has little result, but humans have gained new magical means in which to defend themselves. False witch hunts and other unfortunate events ensue... Eventually things settle once more, and neither side has more say than the other.

Twilight War: The third of the great wars, in which humans as well as the biblical entities will be drawn into. To prevent an unfortunate tip of the balance, and negate the impact on mortals, To-myciel has decided to approach the Fallen and reclaim the "false" angels. By using all those once tainted, Heaven should have more than enough to impair the Hells for good. If not, Night will befall the world.

* * *

**Intro:**

In a human perception, Heaven is a place of peace, at home in the greatness of the sky above. It is home to our souls if lived in righteousness, or those granted passage and cleared of sin. It is a region worth striving for.

Unfortunately... that is human perception, after all.

In the reality, a portion of its confined inner region is all that human thought makes it to be, that is merely the sanctuary of souls... a region of distorted space and time that allows for a seemingly infinite void of all it is hoped to be. A place known on the outside as the "Thoughtful Lie". But this is but a small part of the greater heavens. And this is not in the skies of the Earth.

Instead, it is a plane of existence much like that of the Earth... though there is little to confine its great expanse.

As a whole, Heaven is split among regions of a spherical array of land mass, bits of land floating above or below the other, almost like the existence of a small planet within the expanse of what is known. Beyond of what is known is just additional space. Yet to be defined as a part, it exists near the boundary of what can be explored, limited by the anchor of the soul, also known as a soul's core, the Syncron. Should any a Syncron move outside a given radius, it becomes equal to spiritual death, and the soul would join the greater part of the nether.

Originally, since its creation—and up until Dawn—Heaven stretched over an area of land divided into twenty-six territories. It is now only made of eleven.

And with the potential approach of Twilight... even eleven may not ensure its survival.

Chapter 1: **Assignment**

Heaven, Territorial Region Delta:

Situated against the northern limit of known existence, the area Delta exists apart from standard thought and on the outskirts of Heaven's control. To be more specific, it is put out of most of the denizen's minds, as it is not a place where one would dwell without good reason.

Like that of its name, it was a place of change, a place where those of Heaven, but apart from it, lived. No... That was wrong. It was where they were held.

Those unlike the others... those who had been consumed by sin in the war prior, but who had not fallen as those of the first war. They hadn't been given the choice in the matter. Instead they were confined in what could be more heavily protected than the core of Heaven itself. A large and ominous ancient structure that loomed out of the plains like that of a giant monument, the fortress home of the imprisoned... the home of the "false" angels.

And it was here, on this rainy and dreary day, that the figure who walked alone was heading.

* * *

Great steel doors broke open as they swung slowly on the aging hinges that kept them from becoming rooted to the ground. The brief breech allowing water from the outside to flow freely into the forward part of the empty entrance hall, just beyond the threshold that did little to halt the intrusion. What little light that entered from the outside had done little to chase the darkness from the inside, as it clung to the walls of the vast hall like tar on brick. 

Still, this did nothing to give pause to the figure that was all but invisible beneath the great layers of malted-cloth travel cloak, stopping only briefly to motion to the wall mounted torches, which alit in an instant. The illumination revealing several well disguised guards that lined the passage. They did not move, merely nodding to the figure as the great doors closed with a loud metallic collision that resounded down the hall as would the sound of a church bell in an empty tower.

Much further down the same hall, behind a set of doors heavier than those of the entrance hall, a figure stirred to the faint vibrations of the air. It was strange, that there should be any to enter at all, as this place had been seemingly abandoned for an unreasonable number of years. As it was, despite the uselessness of the gesture, the one within opened its eyes to the expected darkness that greeted them.

Still, it was patient all the same. There was no reason not to be.

Quiet footfalls continued to sound all the closer as whatever it was that approached them grew closer with every meticulous second passed. A slow procession that persisted until they came to a halt just outside the doors.

A pause.

Suddenly, a large number of metallic gears, locks, and other sounds seemed to come from within the door itself as it unfastened from its centuries of neglect and misuse, fine swirls of rust slipping into the air and made present by taste upon the tongue. The doors gave one last shudder before breaking at last, the small slips of first light of the dim halls likened to that of the brightest of torchlight. A blinding radiance followed that of the light, but not from the hall, but the figure clad in obscurity.

There was a moment's silence as the figure regarded that which was before it, and that its eyes were resting solely upon this new entrant. It was uncertain who would acknowledge whom first.

"To-... my... ci... el..." came the forced words of a being just learning to speak again, the short phrase of identification of the one before it as exhausting of a task as the next.

"Eh..." The clad figure exclaimed in a surprised manner. The voice clearly female and of a superior nature. "That you would recognize me in such a short time, under such an unfortunate choice in disguise... even with the spirit dampeners on me... that is an impressive feat." She reached up and pulled back the hood, revealing her natural beauty. Sleek black hair with precious stone and runes woven into the elegant display of braids and locks that captured her beauty and betrayed her rank, a hint of royalty imbedded in a simple hint of her garments under the rags. There was an air of youthfulness about her, despite a more obvious adult presence. She looked on fondly, as though seeing a lost loved one, or child not seen in years of absence.

"I know you can't be happy to see me, but I have a mission for you if you want it." She stated simply, choosing to get right to the point.

"At... at what cost?" the unknown spoke again. His voice rough and course, filled with an unsuppressed bitterness and rage that the woman did little to deny the existence of.

"None really," she replied with a smile, "but if you succeed in your mission, you can expect to be pardoned on all fronts, and reclaim your rank as a formal soldier of the armies of Heaven. With honors, of course." She brought a hand to her chin and smiled serenely. "What say you, Syariel? Interested?"

She shifted her body and an additional stream of light flooded the chamber, exposing the rough form before her, whose body was neither standing nor kneeling, but held firmly in place with multiple series of chains and iron clasps that all but restricted any form of movement. Large white wings with black and gray stains extended from the figure's bare back, shackles and chains keeping them long since unmoving and useless. A torn rag of a loincloth served as the only clothing, and a steady drip of water leaking through the ceiling the only source of sustenance.

The head, the only thing able to move was drooped forward as to consider his options. His long, unkempt brown hair covered his face. He seemed to focus on the question intently, but she made no further attempt to interrupt.

After a moment, he raised his head, the chains on his body groaning in response to the shift.

"Yeah..." he answered slowly, and with much difficulty through gritted teeth. "I'm all ears."

* * *

Syaoran closed his shoe locker loudly, swung his bag around his shoulder and proceeded down the hall. 

He looked at his watch. There was no time for a detour, next class was in several minutes, and he had already missed the past three. Whatever... it wasn't like he needed them to live. Even if he failed them all, that didn't matter. His job here wasn't like that. His job wasn't to be a student at all... it was just convenient to be one.

Or so she said.

To-myciel... that bitch. Her words were stuck on him like an insufferable resin. And it was impossible to just rid himself of it, because all in all, that was part of the deal.

Just the words weren't the problem... it was that of all people, she had to be the one to speak them. And it wasn't just that, but it seemed that every time he wished to forget, the past memory would just be that much stronger.

He closed his eyes in another attempt to shake them from his mind. Would it work?

"_Interested?"_

'_Yeah, I'm all ears.'_

"_That's good, it'll make things that much easier._

"_Though you are not aware, Twilight approaches us, and rapidly. The truce with the demons has fallen apart, and forces are beginning to move... not only in Hell, but in the 'Lost Territories' as well. And we are not enough of a force to prevent it. As of now, we are an army without its soldiers."_

'_So you want me to do what? Assassination, reconnaissance?'_

"_No Syariel. You will be a recruiter. Not any such, but one to unite the Fallen with their true family. I will be asking this to all of the 'false' angels. But to you I entrust the most vital of tasks: Find and make peace with Sakyriel, former general of the first division of Heaven's army during the war of Dawn. Only she can turn the tide of the war to come—in our favor. _

"_Know that she probably masquerades as a human girl in Japan's Tokyo. It is there that you will find her among the populace."_

'_But...'_

"_Find her... tame her._

"_I look forward to only the bests of results."_

Syaoran opened his eyes and the memory erased once again. That it would replay incessantly... that accursed angel and her twisted schemes... it pissed him off to no end.

For everyone else, he as the 17 year old Li Syaoran 'transferred' in a little over a week ago into this semi-large Tokyo high school.

As it was, it didn't take long for him to be branded with an already well-defined reputation. A loner who seemed to absorb violence from every source... one who did nothing unless he deemed it worthy, and one whom it was best not to talk with, or risk losing more than what a hospital could replace. Although, reputations are usually earned over a long duration, so it was uncertain as to what was fact and what was an embellishment. Either way, he was avoided when possible.

At least... that was the general case. Even without wasting a glance he knew she was there. An auburn haired girl with an interesting hair style that made her easy to identify apart from the others, who was probably tucked back and hidden within the throng of busy students moving to whichever class they were moving to, wearing whatever that reddened look of confused emotions was upon her face. That she should take such a direct interest so quickly only made it that much obvious.

A scowl crossed his face as he thought of the irony.

Such a laugh! That he had been sent here to hunt her, yet instead, she discovered him first? His eyes narrowed as he grit his teeth, and then slammed his fist against the wall.

_Tch... whatever. _

If that's how it was to be, that was fine.

With no more wasted thought upon the matter, he turned and disappeared into his classroom. While the girl down the way, tucked back away from the dissipating crowds, held her hand over her heart as she looked at his retreating back with an airy demeanor.

* * *

"Class dismissed." 

At the teacher's prompt, life immediately returned to the tired students who had little choice but to suffer through the boredom of the afternoon's onslaught of classes as time did little more than crawl on the wall clock. However, before the normal din of chatter could pick up, a quiet fell upon all as Syaoran pushed back his chair, stood, threw his bag about his shoulder, and exited the classroom. It was only until he had made his way well out of sight that any noise returned at all.

Even in the hallway, people seemed to part as he made his way down the passage towards his shoe locker, and ultimately, the exit beyond that. However, as he went to remove his outdoor shoes, a single fold piece of paper from between them fell out, which he caught with little effort between his forefingers. With a flick of his thumb, he opened it and scanned his eyes over the written message within.

_Tch..._

He went back to his shoes as he crushed the note in his hand.

_That girl...

* * *

_

Not more than ten minutes later, he exited the school gates—the auburn haired, green eyed girl from before flanking his side.

Where they were going, she hadn't specified, they just were. Walking together, moving forward, at this point it wasn't the destination that mattered. At least, that was what was apparent on her flushed cheeks.

Syaoran felt her hand accidentally brush against his, and then retract just as quickly as it had occurred, though she seemed to look more reddened than before.

Ha... like he cared. His only concern at the moment was his objective... though it seemed much too easy.

Though all his angelic senses declared it, could he possibly have made a mistake? This girl beside him... despite having sought him out—could she just be a normal girl after all? This Sakura?

"U-um..."

He glanced at her without turning his head, just to see her recoil as soon as the sound was out of her mouth. She was red again. So annoying.

"E-eh... uh..."

"What is it?" Syaoran asked without emotion. If this was her act, it was already past annoying.

"I-I... thank you!" She blurted out quickly, shutting her eyes as though to avoid his gaze.

"For?"

"E-eh... that is..." she wound the end of one of her longer locks of hair around her finger nervously, as she searched for the right words. "T-that is... for agreeing... to this."

"This?"

"T-to um... seeing me?"

"And why wouldn't I?" Syaoran asked slightly irritated.

"I-it's not that you w-wouldn't... just that everyone feels intimidated by you and such... and that I just thought perhaps maybe you would... rather not see me? I don't know?"

"I don't think I follow."

Sakura stopped walking and glanced at her feet. "Ah... you wouldn't, would you?" She turned away and got even quieter. "O-of course you wouldn't know... so silly..." she turned back to face him "it's just that everyone else does. That I—well—I'm not like the others. That my body isn't strong like the others... that I'm anemic and I tend to suffer from blackouts and memory loss from time to time... and I thought that perhaps it was unfair to drag you out further without letting you know about me!"

He looked at her without expression.

"It's just that you are strong... and you stand out. Completely like my opposite." She looked up with a tearful expression. "That's why I—!!"

"Okay... I understand." Syaoran said bluntly, cutting her off. "I don't mind one way or another."

"Really?" Sakura said taken aback. "Thank you!"

_Tch..._ Thought Syaoran as he wished for a bit of silence. _Whatever._

Without another prompt, they continued walking onward, Sakura feeling a bit better with less guilt at his side.

Though she really didn't care where they walked to, she began to note that the surroundings were less the peaceful suburban atmosphere, and more and more central city. Not only that, but they were moving into the greater areas of Tokyo, where one would more likely be expecting to find Yakuza and other gang related atmospheres than a would-be-happy 'couple'. Since it was still daylight, it shouldn't matter... but all the same...

Sakura stopped. "Syaoran, maybe we should... should..." she put her hand to her head as she began to feel faint. "Ah..."

He stopped as her legs began to falter and she pitched forward, her free hand reaching out before her, as though to find stability in anything still standing.

As with the paper before her, Syaoran caught her easily and supported her fall gently, letting her body cushion against his own. So this is what she meant about weakness? Perhaps he really did have the wrong girl after all. All the same, he couldn't just leave her alone either.

However, he hadn't supported her for long when her hand suddenly had a weight behind it, her gentle fingers squeezing his arm ever so lightly as consciousness seemed to flow back into her body.

He looked into her face as she opened her eyes, but said nothing. There seemed to be a slight pause as she realized what she was seeing, and where she was, before she withdrew in an embarrassed fashion.

"Ah...!" she exclaimed as she turned slightly red. "So embarrassing!" She put her hands to her face as though to cover the expression, as her eyes confirmed where she was. A bit of a smile played through the gaps of her fingers.

"Are you ok now?" Syaoran asked for the hell of it. He'd rather her problem solve itself than rely on his involvement.

"Eh... of course!" she exclaimed with energy. "Just a touch of anemia! I'm better now!"

"If you say so."

Sakura flashed a smile. "I do."

"About what you were saying before you fainted?"

"Ah..." She held out her hand to him, but he merely looked at it with a passive expression. She shrugged as she let it fall away. "About that, let's go this way."

She nodded in the direction of a less crowded area, in a slightly more run down section, but followed her lead without question.

It didn't take her long until she had led them to a dead end, down a slightly dim-set alley.

"Oops... a wrong turn." She stated in a happy voice. She started to move back towards the exit, when she paused just in front of him. "Or was it?"

Syaoran also stopped. Something was off. Something was amiss. Just when did she lose her nervousness? The her as she was now seemed too full of confidence to be right. When was it?

"Well?" asked Sakura ahead of him, a smile creeping across her face as she closed her eyes.

It was... after she collapsed... then it... It couldn't be.

"What do you think?" Sakura asked as she opened her eyes... her now airy silver-blue eyes.

"Mr. Angel?"

Syaoran's look of passive surprised was erased by all view as his entire world disappeared as the alley was swallowed by an ever expanding white oblivion.

* * *

To be continued...

* * *

A/N (1/15/08): All right everyone, this is my experimental attempt at a fast paced story. Originally this was going to be drawn out with detail and other characters in the mix, but now I've given my story notes (more like a historical reference than notes) into the mix instead, so you know what I know about the background and the intent. Hopefully I'll get this over and done with before it gets too old... but I never know what obstacles may come up. 

Since this is different from a traditional style, a lot of you will probably be wary of positive feedback, but there are always exceptions. Let me know if you're one of them!


	2. Choice

Chapter 2: **Choice**

Still engulfed in a world of white nothingness, Syaoran grimaced as bits of crushed concrete and brick trickled down his shirt and its dust swirled on the turbulent air around him. The taste of his own blood was heavy upon his tongue.

He was alive... but barely.

Had he projected his barrier any later... as it was, he was lucky to only escape with burnt arms and fractured bones.

So this was the power of one of the hierarchy? No... This was only her surface ability. Like his own, it was only a fraction of her true ability.

He closed his eyes as he attempted to force himself forward. If the concealment dissipated while he was helpless still, he'd be dead for certain.

Syaoran opened his eyes as he forced himself to push back the pain. However, two brilliant colored eyes of his opposition seemed to pierce the clearing haze. But she seemed to make no other movement.

Instead, she merely stood there palm-outstretched, the remaining white-electric energy dancing across her hand. Much longer hair dancing in the back-breeze.

"Hoh..." She said in a voice that was more adult, and much more menacing than before. "Still alive? It would be disappointing if you had just upped and died on me." Her darkened silhouette seemed to grow taller as she pulled her hand back to her face and flicked the offending hair from her eyes. "Especially since I've yet to hear your name."

Syaoran wiped his sleeve across his mouth, clearing the blood before it could drip down his chin. He stared at the attractive woman before him, the stark difference between her present form and her counterpart before, beyond remarkable.

"Heh... and what is a name to you... Sakyriel?"

"Nothing." She said firmly. "It's just what this world calls... 'common courtesy'." She seemed to carry an amused smile that accompanied the exchange. "After all, you know more about me than I you... it's only fair."

"I don't care for 'fair', but since it would be annoying otherwise... Syariel."

"Oh?" She ignored the grimace upon his face as his own body underwent transformations—mainly of a recovery sort—as she contemplated his name. "Syariel...? Cute. Were you chosen because of the similarities between our names?" She smiled. "Or are you... something of the expendable type?"

Syariel allowed himself a smirk. "Probably something closer to 'good behavior' than anything else."

"Good behavior... eh?" Sakyriel whispered. "Isn't that just the nature of a 'purity' of Heaven!" She pulled her arm forward—fingers raking the air—and released a concentrated slash of incandescent energy toward her foe.

"'Purity'?" Syariel said quietly as he crossed his arms in front of him, blocking the slash with the resulting energy barrier. The force of the collision enough to force his wings into the open—wings of the purest white—in order to counter the power that sought to push him backwards. "About that..." He raised his wings and tensed his arms. "I wonder."

With a strong downward force of his wings and a forced separation of his arms, he forced the energies to the street below as he sailed upwards. Shattered pieces of the road exploded outward, but not fast enough to reach his ascent speed.

"Playing that hand already?" Sakyriel mused as the shattered pieces did little but dance in the air around her. "That won't do..." She smiled as her own wings—black as midnight—emerged and rose high. "That won't do at all..."

* * *

Syariel landed upon the roof of the higher of the nearby buildings, clutching his sides with a look of agony across his face.

It was too soon... much too soon.

Though he'd been on Earth for a couple weeks, he had had no flying experience since his incarceration. And a dry run like this just wouldn't do! Not to mention these wings...

His hand shot to the rooftop to stop himself from pitching over.

_Impossible!_ Was this his limit?

"Hey."

_Tch..._ She found him already?

"Don't tell me this is all you've got." Said Sakyriel from above, practically hovering in the air as she slowly descended on the breeze. "The other angels before at least made it interesting when they were trying to kill me."

Syariel's wings beat against the air for added stability as he rose to his feet, his hand clutched over the central part of his chest. "Heh... don't write me off yet." A trail of sweat rolled down his face, betraying his exhaustion. "Besides... who said anything about killing you?"

"Pffft..!" Sakyriel sounded as she stifled a laugh. "Why would I expect otherwise? Especially since you so eagerly accepted the fight at hand? At least those other angels before had tact... even a fair level of diplomacy.

"What are you in comparison? Not much."

Syariel grimaced, but moved his hands to an offensive position. There was nothing that would prevent him from the fight to come. Even if he was at his limit.

"Are you sure you want to?" Sakyriel said as she slinked forward. Her waist-length hair trailing behind her on the late afternoon breeze as she regarded her opponent with gentle eyes. "I wouldn't be offended if you just gave up."

"Like Hell!" Syariel declared as he rushed forward, an azure flame encircling his wrist.

"If that's your wish." Sakyriel said coldly, as she invoked a dark enchantment, a dark pentagram expanding from her feet. Just as Syariel's own magic began to splinter into light rods collecting in his palm as he prepared to discharge the holy flame... only to recoil in agony as the dark shape hit his feet and overcame him completely.

With no means to avoid its effect, Syariel collapsed to his knees, the flame about his wrist dissipating as quickly as it had come into being, as the darkness swept his being.

_Sin energy! Can't—!!_

"GaaaAAAHHHH!!!" Syariel screamed as his body was engulfed, his angelic energies failing completely to the potency of the deepest level of sin. Hell's greatest weapon against them.

As he was now... as he was...

He just couldn't compete...

"It's over." Sakyriel sighed as she looked at the collapsed form of the angel before her. She paused over his unmoving form as she retracted her sin-wash. Though he hadn't lasted as long as the ones before him, she couldn't help but feel that he was different. She shook her head in dissatisfaction. "I guess my expectations were too high."

Her gaze lingered on his face. He was rather handsome... but such was the waste she had grown accustom to.

"Sorry..." she said as she lifted him by the tattered remains of his shirt. "But I will be taking your energy now. After all, a syncron like yours is of no use to you now. So pardon me!"

With that, she thrust her now glowing hand deep into his chest and seized her prize.

"Ha. It's mine—"

_Eh?_

She looked at his pained face with a feeling of horror.

_Wha—what is this? It's not possible..._

His syncron was gone already. And in its place was something far from what it should be. Though what exactly... she hadn't a guess.

Her face took on a look of pity as she explored this new-found enigma.

_This angel... that he was fighting all along without the source of his power. And that he managed to make it this far? _

"How cruel..."

"It is?"

Sakyriel retracted her hand as she spun around to the sound of the voice behind her, Syariel's body falling limply to the ground as he battled against the unconsciousness that wished to claim him. He too, through pained eyes, looked towards the voice.

"Is it really?" said a calm female voice, from a silhouette against the radiance of the glow of the now setting sun. The figure of a petit individual walking slowly towards them. "I thought of all people, someone like you could appreciate it... Kyrie."

At the mention of the name, the light fell away and exposed the form of an eighteen year old girl with sleek black hair, with a touch of elegance that most humans simply did not possess. An individual that Syariel wished to see the least.

"Myciella!?" Sakyriel declared with earnest joy. "That I'd see you again! It feels like it's been ages!"

"It has been a while. Hasn't it?" The disguised version of To-myciel said with a smile.

"Too long." Said Sakyriel with an intuitive grin. "Though I have to question why you chose this, of all times, to hold our reunion. That you are in a human disguise, I would be led to believe you didn't just arrive."

"As ever amazing with your insight." The human To-myciel said she stayed her hair blowing hair with a touch of her hand to the side of her face. "We were never dissatisfied with your intelligence... I must say. Just your decisions made along the way..."

"I like to think of it as just 'simple-deductive-rationality', more than anything else. And don't worry; I'm not worried about my decisions in the slightest. As my friend, shouldn't you respect that?"

"Perhaps." Sighed To-myciel. There was no arguing with Sakyriel. Especially if she argued to win.

"And now for your reason?" Sakyriel looked back to the struggling form of Syariel behind her. "I doubt you came to 'rescue' that. After all, as an assassin he lacks all the essentials. Or did you think of him as nothing more than an experiment for your own purposes?"

To-myciel smiled. "I can't say that it's a lie. But it's more that I came to remind him of his mission more than anything. That I should talk to you in person is just another excuse.

"Although I ask that you forgive him... after centuries of confinement, he doesn't have the strongest of conversational abilities. Though I had expected him to at least drop the basics before engaging you in combat." She sighed. "Perhaps I expected too much?"

"Confinement?" Sakyriel shook her head. "Never mind that. For what did you send him? You should know that I don't just listen to anyone."

"How true." To-myciel said as her human form melted away with the last of the light of the setting sun in the distance behind her, exposing her true angelic form. What with her flowing gowns and magnificent spread of her four white wings, she was a true marvel to behold as she took to the air above.

"Ho..." Sakyriel said as she craned her neck up. Her two black wings tucked at her back to show her willingness to talk. "Four wings now? You've had a promotion, I see."

"They're nothing more than decoration to me. You know as well as I that the only true four-winged angels are guarding the throne chamber of our Lord."

"'Our Lord'." Sakyriel said with a complacent look. "You say that as though there's truth to those words. You know I'll never acknowledge _**that**_ which chooses to never reveal itself."

"_**That**_?" To-myciel said softly with a resigned look in her eyes. "To think you would still show such disrespect... perhaps I am wrong to try to waste words upon you?"

"Probably." Sakyriel said as she held her hand out at her side, horizontal to the flat roof below. An intricate black and red insignia magic seal etched itself into being, centralized directly underneath her outspread fingers. "Action... as they say..." A soft crimson glow began to emit from the seal, a black object starting to emerge. "...Is always louder than words!"

With that, her wings arched into the air, just as her black runic-blade came into being and flew to her hand—which was eagerly accepted by her awaiting fingers—as she launched herself from the roof, intent on delivering the first strike.

To-myciel watched the coming assault with a less-than-worried expression, as she merely raised her hand in front of her. Her eyes narrowed as Sakyriel's slash came down.

"Naïve."

* * *

Syariel watched as the entire area surrounding the two combatants above was swallowed by a light so brilliant that he could not look directly at it for more than a second. Like an explosion in the evening air, shaking even the building beneath his fingers. Something that even the normally unobservant humans, noticed below.

Not that it mattered... he had more important concerns.

Feeling the role of a useless observer wasn't one of them... but he no longer had the strength. He no longer could even watch.

With that last despairing thought, he sank to the roof and lost consciousness.

* * *

"Heh... What was that?" Sakyriel asked through a smile. Bits of electric blue inscriptions upon the air began to emerge from the fading glow. "Shield energy perhaps? How useless."

She looked to her black blade, which had already begun to absorb the light from their clash and store it within. Small runes upon the blade slowly turning crimson. When they all were filled... then shield energy was nothing.

"Useless..." To-myciel replied, easily visible behind the blue insignia laden air. Calmly regarding her opponent's weapon as it began to cut into the shield. "Is it?"

She smiled lady-like, before returning to her serious face. Her lips parting ever so slightly as to just permit a whisper.

"Repel."

"What!?" Sakyriel replied as the energy expanded outward, threatening to overtake her and her blade. "That's not...!"

She retreated from the surge before it crippled her ability to stay aloft. The red runes slowly being erased from the blade's surface. While the air in front of To-myciel returned to a somewhat normal appearance.

However, it was less the repulsion that interested Sakyriel, as her eyes settled upon the object in To-myciel's hand.

"Tch... that is..." Sakyriel started, before adding a laugh accompanied with a look of entertainment. "Heh heh... that blade is... really. When did you get permission for such a thing? That runic blade..."

"Azurewrath." The two said simultaneously. Both in awe of the delicate but intimidatingly beautiful blue blade... what with its intricate white etched weavings, gracing its length, it was the pride of Heaven. It was also the one object completely resilient to corruption.

"The 'sword of light', as it were." Said To-myciel as she held it before her. Her four wings seemed to resonate in its presence. "The true reason behind the four wings... is to use it, you need the stability of your soul, or else it may tear it asunder.

"Even as I am now, it is more my master... than it mine."

Sakyriel looked at her 'friend's' shaking form. "So it seems." She looked at her own blade; it seemed to be quivering in response to the other. "So... where were we?"

"Talking, I believe."

"Oh... yeah."

Sakyriel smiled and lunged out, her blade nearly invisible in the fading light.

"Too slow."

To-myciel met the charge with clear precision, the resulting clash between sin and saint tearing the very fabric of the air around them, so violent a meeting of the two.

"Heh..." Sakyriel smirked, scatterings of light and dark energy spraying into the night. "Since talk is cheap... let's dance." She threw out her other arm, sin energy mingling with the scattered bits of Heaven's radiance. She flicked her fingers out and the pieces began to glow in the dusk. "Inferno!"

At once, the combing energies conflicted to the point of combustion, a black flame reaching into the air around them.

Their swords collided once again, sparks spraying outward, the electric glow of blue against the all encompassing darkness of black aiding the climbing flames by seeding the air with the energy it thrived upon. But that was just the one side.

"Surge."

At once, the sword responded, the white arching across the deep blue like a cresting tide, until it encompassed the two entities like a skirt, just before releasing a deluge of water that erased the flame below.

"Ho... pretty impressive. I see your skills have increased in our time apart... Myciella!"

"No, my most precious Kyrie, I just haven't been laying about with my skills in dormancy." She pushed the fallen angel away from her as her wings took her to a higher vantage. "Especially consider the times to come."

"What times?" Sakyriel scowled. "Not another war? Is that all heaven is about these days... executions, banishments, wars!? I suppose this time it's to eliminate those you cast aside before."

"Actually..." Their swords clashed again, bringing them closer than before. "It's the opposite."

"Opposite? Ha! Heaven wishes the Fallen to return? Preposterous!"

"If you would be our allies... help your origin in its time of need for the coming of the third war."

"Twilight...?" Sakyriel said softly. You think Twilight is approaching?"

"It's more than likely." To-myciel stated as she fired a binding spell off. Her eyes flickered downward, and did not go un-noticed.

"So that's the story behind that one as well?" asked Sakyriel as she neatly dodged the spell and sent one of her own variety in return. "Then by incarceration... he's of the Day War?" She regarded To-myciel with an uncertain scrutiny. To think you are willing to go so far... is Heaven that weak? Or is it that Hell is that Strong?"

"Either or both. I'm sure our own rules are set to doom us all. If you would come back, be forgiven..."

"There's nothing to be forgiven for. I've done nothing wrong for the sake of my homeland." She cast her sword aside. "I even sacrificed my perfection for its sake. And when it's survival was ascertained, my own fate was sealed because of my efforts.

"And now... after everything that has happened beyond heaven, you wish for my return?"

To-myciel let the Azurewrath melt back into nothingness as Sakyriel faced her.

"Here you are... come to the Mortal world. Whispering Twilight when Twilight may not come to pass. And seeking to forgive for the moment, but choose to eliminate once the job is through? I think not."

Sakyriel slowly descended to the roof top below, her sword imbedded deep within its surface. She ignored it in favor of the weakened angel beyond.

"What are you doing?" Asked To-myciel as Sakyriel picked up the exhausted Syariel.

"Me...?" Sakyriel said as she regarded Syariel with a sad expression. "I'm seeing just how far Heaven has gone in this plot."

With that, she thrust her hand deep in his chest, wrapped her fingers around that which was not his syncron, and destroyed it.

"G—g-g-gaaAAAHHH!!" Syariel cried out in pain as his wings flared high, wing tip to wing tip. The pure wing of his wings fading to an off-white as a darkness crept slowly across his wing tips and then down in streaks along various sections of feathers, until a pattern of the two wings together formed what looked much like that of a black sun, half on each wing. Wings that slowly began to fade away as his human form returned to him, as his body no longer possessed its ability to keep its form.

Sakyriel let him fall to the ground, having seen something she had never seen before. An angel that was in half sin, and half light. He was neither Angel nor Fallen.

"I... see."

"A False Angel." To-myciel stated from behind her. She stood on the rooftop with a reserved expression. "Touched by sin, but existing without acceptance of it. He and his kind are no longer acceptable angels."

Sakyriel slid down to a knee and cupped the barely breathing Angel's jaw in her hand. "Then he is of his own entity. Much like theirs."

"Theirs?"

"That is not open for discussion with you at this time." She looked sad as the light in her eyes began to die. "But it may be for him. Allow me thought of this."

To-myciel nodded. Her human form returned to her. "It's his mission to persuade you, regardless."

"I will not be persuaded." Her wings disappeared, as her hair began to shorten and her form grew smaller. "As for his syncron? I'm sure this is for purposes of loyalty?"

"It is."

"Then I may need to address that again, later. But it is not something for you or me to decide. For when it comes down to it, in this dispute or the potential war to come... whichever side, or no side at all... it is his decision to make.

"His... choice."

* * *

A/N (1/23/08): I'm going to try to release this weekly until I get through it. It shouldn't be much longer than a few chapters more. After all, I'm trying to go quickly. :P 


	3. Decision

Following the minor clash between the once-friends To-myciel and Sakyriel, all three had reverted to their human forms and To-myciel vanished into the night. With the message delivered, and their positions reinforced, To-myciel was no longer needed and thus had departed.

Later, Sakura, having no idea where she was, woke up next to a still-sleeping Syaoran on a bench in a park near her house. Figuring that he had brought her this far, and simply fell asleep next to her while waiting for her to recover, she felt a feeling of a deep warmth in her chest. Unwilling to wake him from such a peaceful state, she snuggled against him and fell asleep. The two did not wake until morning.

Upon re-awakening, they found themselves in a world of confusion. Not totally oblivious to all of the energies of the heaven's and in-between realms, a great majority of humans had actually witnessed the strange displays of light from the combat the evening before. Though no one could see the angels themselves due to their ethereal aspect of being when operating in the Mortal plane, theory and conjecture itself was damaging enough.

To mitigate the damage, To-myciel stayed behind after all, entering into the same school system as Syaoran and Sakura as a transfer student by the name of Tomoyo. While there is no interaction between the three, Syaoran takes no joy in her presence. Sakura wonders if the harsher feeling emanating from him isn't due in part to her, thus causing her to keep her own distance.

However, these days of awkwardness were quickly replaced with those of suffering, as Syaoran's time left to live quickly dwindled. Unconscious of his exact difficulties, Sakura attempts to rekindle their relationship by narrowing the distance, unaware that her counterpart Sakyriel has already got her own agenda.

Chapter 3: **Decision**

Syaoran felt his head spin as he dropped his shoes by his locker, grabbing its open edge for support as a feeling of nausea overcame him.

He grabbed his chest and clenched his eyes shut... the world feeling as though it was slowly being pulled out from underneath his stationary feet.

He was getting worse. He was already feeling the cross effects. The strain upon his body that resulted from being apart from his Syncron. He didn't have long left now... he had to finish his mission or abandon living, as he had no other choice left to him.

If only that bitch would take heart! Then she could erase these traitorous feelings welling up in his being...

"Syaoran!"

Just as the soft voice cried out from somewhere in the murky darkness that had become his vision, he lost his handhold and began to fall, bored aloft—surprisingly—by the very person who had just called out.

"S-Sakura?"

"Ta-Take it easy... I've got you now." She said through a strained voice as she attempted to support him with her weak strength. No one nearby even attempted to help.

"...'s ok Sakura." Syaoran said kindly as he attempted to stand on his own. "I've got... got..."

"That's no good at all!" Sakura's high voice before moving her mouth closer to his ear, her voice changing its tone completely. "Besides, we need to talk."

_Sakyriel!?_

"S-sure." He grimaced as they headed down the hall. Unaware of another person watching them from a distance through narrowed eyes, before slipping away un-noticed.

* * *

Syaoran collapsed back on the roof of the school building, the nurse's room meaning little for a condition without cure, as well as being a great place of privacy. Though he wasn't sure of when the transition had occurred, it was definite that the girl before him was her angelic self.

"So... what did you want with me... Sakyriel?"

"Ara... am I so obvious?" The woman in her human form said with a smile. She looked around once, confirming their privacy from potential prying eyes. "I'll cut to the point... you are dying... are you not?"

Syaoran didn't even flinch... so obvious it must be to one of the former generals, and lead fallen, whose eyes had no doubt witnessed thousands of death's syndromes prior.

"Ah... That's right." He said bitterly. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to save my life by coming back to Heaven's side, or would you?" He closed his eyes as he drew in a breath, putting his head back against the wall behind him. "I guess that would be impossible."

"Yes."

"Figures." He coughed violently, his deterioration evident in the blood that flowed from his lungs—now laced heavily upon his breath. He grimaced as he wiped it away with the back of his hand. "It's probably too late by now... anyway." He looked up to the sky as what little life remaining seemed to stand still.

"No." The still-girl Sakyriel said from her stationary position. "That is your choice... even now."

"Choice?"

"To live with what little time you have left, as a being loyal to Heaven and all its misfortunes... or to abandon it for favor of life, and new possibility." She held out her hand.

"W-What?" There was nothing offered but emptiness... but it had such pull he was tempted to seize the air above it for sake of trying.

"This..." she started slowly, "Is the path of new life. As well as the seal upon this girl's strength... the other purpose of her being."

"Seal?" Syaoran stared at the empty hand, a strange pattern of darkness emerging on the upward facing palm. An intricate etching that he had seen before in the night's prior.

_Black Runes..._

"Shed the light... embrace the darkness that is. Of the Syncron of the first of the Fallen... he who provided the means that led the rest of us to follow, even before that of Lucifiel..." Her eyes narrowed as an obvious pained crossed her face, her hair blowing freely as the winds began to emerge from the eroding seal. "The dark angel... bringer of death...

"Azrael."

"Stop!"

Syaoran looked over to the stair top, the entrance door to the roof opened fully, Tomoyo—the accursed human form of To-myciel—standing before it.

"That—!" She declared wide-eyed. "That you had such a thing! What is the meaning of this...? Kyrie!"

"Ara... aren't I Sakura now? Tomoyo..." She smiled innocently with Sakura's face, her hand still being encased in the darkness, the very weather in the sky above changing to the same form of darkness as black clouds engulfed the sun. "Besides, why are you asking me? Shouldn't you be asking him?"

"Syaoran?" Tomoyo said meekly as she looked to his slumped figure, noting the still flowing trail of blood from his mouth. "What... What did you do!?" She accused Sakura.

"What I did? I did nothing. That is the price of your demands for loyalty." She pointed with her free hand to Syaoran's dying form. "Didn't I say this before? That in the end it was his choice?

"Well... I'm forcing the choice now. Death with you... Or life in death, with me. Unless of course, you choose to re-unite him with his core before he dies." She smiled as the pain lessened. "Of course, as this is my prize from the Core Wars, I'm free to do with it as I wish."

Tomoyo grimaced. Of all possible Syncrons... that she had that one was beyond absurd! Was this her answer to the proposal? Or was this the key to something greater?

_Wait..._

"What do you... what do you mean by that—! Prize? A prize you said?!" Tomoyo looked at Sakura's face accusingly. "Impossible!"

"Heh." Sakura's innocent face betrayed by a smile it would never carry. "Figure it out? A bit surprising, I must say, since you were always a bit slow on the uptake... oh great liaison between the Heavens and Mortal realm."

"It can't be..." Tomoyo said softly, her words nearly lost to the winds that buffeted her. "Then the Core Wars..."

"...Were orchestrated by me." Sakura said simply.

Both Tomoyo's and Syaoran's eyes widened at her confession. However, a resigned feeling seemed to hold over Syaoran's heart. At this point, the knowledge of centuries ago seemed just as distant as his pledge to return Sakyriel to the service of Heaven, while much closer was that existence of darkness upon Sakura's outstretched hand. An existence that seemed to be drawing him...

"Why..." Tomoyo started. She looked to the Syncron and Syaoran. She looked to the still human Sakyriel, in Sakura's form. She cursed internally.

With the seductive power of the Death Sphere, she dare not expose her Angelic form to it, lest she risk losing herself to its destructive influence. It was Sakyriel's greatest front, to think that her creation of her human side was simply a cover for this!

"Why would you go to such lengths... for not only that, but for what purpose!?"

"For what purpose...? Indeed." Sakura looked up, her hair blowing freely, her arm disappearing into the darkness that had already consumed her hand. "About that... I wonder."

"You..." Tomoyo uttered softly. "About Twilight... about the war to come..."

"Such was an inevitability; though it was nothing I had any awareness of until near the close of Dawn, mind you." Sakura said, the black runes spreading across her face as the glyphs crept up her neck. "Not until after witnessing the power of the hybrids. Then it was not so distant at all. The fact that the war of Heaven and Hell was no longer limited to the Angels and Demons... or even the Mortals they wished to have a monopoly over... instead it would be finished with those caught between realms.

"Don't think that the Fallen exist without their Hellion equivalent. Not that either are limited to anything but choice. And who says our loyalties are anything to the side of origin?"

She smiled despite the look of discomfort that settled in her face. Her eyes went to Syaoran.

"Now it's your game. Take it or leave it, but let me warn you... if you don't take it soon, and the marks consume this body, then the life of the girl 'Sakura' will be consumed as well. Not that it will do anything more than expose me, but I'd rather keep my cover if I can."

Tomoyo looked aghast. Her hand shaking with a suppressed level of emotion as she regarded the two before her. "Not only do you involve others, but you use threat of the annihilation of your own counterpart? How far will you fall!?"

"Heh..."

Tomoyo stopped at Syaoran's amused laugh. "Syaoran?"

"Ridiculous... the both of you." He said as he closed his eyes to the black Syncron before him. "You make it sound like I have no concept of the ramifications of my actions... and that I must be 'played' by the both of you into making a decision?" He opened his eyes slowly as he looked at Tomoyo and smiled. "Of course, this is greater than me, a mere lieutenant... a mere sword of the generals... to make without guidance. But after hearing all of this?" He stretched his hand out towards the sphere.

"But aside from my life... the life of a counterpart... or whatever the hell else you can drag out of your ass... There ain't no way I'm not seeing this to the end!!"

As his hand fell forward, he heard Tomoyo scream out one last time, just before his fingers found the sphere and wrapped around it. And Sakura... the last thing he saw, vanished into a black fog that enveloped his mind, as his beaten body submitted to the torrent's onslaught.

"It's done." Sakura said softly as she watched the black sphere sink into Syaoran's chest... instantly reverting him to his angelic form. The black half sun marks on his wings looking all the more pronounced.

She started to laugh as the darkness that was painting her form cracked and broke away, revealing her Angelic self to the darkened world.

To-myciel did much of the same. Her elegant face crest fallen with anxiety.

"What you have done here... on this day... do you even realize?" She clenched her fist in anger, her wings flared out violently. "Kyrie!"

"Of course." Sakyriel stated simply. "I presented the key to the lock you so neatly presented me. And he turned the key that leads to the awakening of all that is the end." She looked up satisfied. "Don't think you weren't aware of your own hand in all this? You were never meant to prevent Twilight... you—like me—were only there to see its initiation."

"It hasn't begun yet!" To-myciel declared vehemently. "I—!"

"Will do nothing." Sakyriel stated calmly. "This game is mine already. For the offset is already mine." She stooped down to collect the still unmoving form of Syariel. "If you have nothing else... then I must away." She shifted the dead weight of her prize and smiled. "Until we next meet."

And without further sound, they were gone.

In their absence, a solitary To-myciel was left momentarily to consider the situation, as well as the events to come... just before she departed into the blackened skies.

* * *

A/C (3/9/08): A lot of things happened that delayed this release, so I made my compacted story even more so by concluding it with this one. Though the whisperings have ended, look forward to the continuation in "Unto Twilight".

Thanks for reading!


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